


First in the Leauge

by PoetsReach



Series: Emergency Goalie [7]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Car crash and drunk driving mentioned, Homophobia, M/M, Major Character Injury, Montreal Canadiens, News Media
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-23 14:53:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16161155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoetsReach/pseuds/PoetsReach
Summary: Sergei Kuznetsov might not have been the first out player in the NHL but he was the first NHL player to come out. Not that he had much choice in the matter. Not that, given the circumstances, he much cared.





	First in the Leauge

**Author's Note:**

> This one is a little different, it focuses on a new character and his story. I have not forgotten about Avi! I plan to continue writing his story, but this is the one in my head right now.

Sportscaster: Mark Leblanc has long been known as an old school hockey coach who has never been particularly beloved by his players. He has been known to have a short temper and not infrequent outbursts. While he was still playing he was known as one of the toughest, meanest men on the ice. As a coach he has been known to use tactics with his players that have drawn questions. Ever since his appointment as head coach of the Canadiens three weeks ago, following being let go from his position in Anaheim only two days prior, there have been rumors that he has clashed with many players at his new club. Players that include Sergei Kuznetsov, the young super star who finally made his long awaited arrival in Montreal last season. After being drafted first overall at the age of 19 Kuznetsov chose to remain in Russia with Sibir Novosibirsk, his home club, to stay close to his younger brother who received a cancer diagnosis only days after the draft. Two years later, after his brother went into remission, he planned his shift to the NHL to start the next season. When he arrived he was brought under the wing of the long time head coach Joe Kim who was forced to retire last month for health reasons. By all accounts Kuznetsov was easily coachable, got along well with all of the staff and is a great teammate. He once described the team as having a great room and no one seemed to have a bad word to say about him either. In his first season in Montreal the Calder winner scored 40 goals and up until three weeks ago was on pace this season for even more. It was just over a month ago that head coach Kim was forced to retire. It wasn’t until just under three weeks ago that Kuznetsov entered his slump. I don’t want to speculate too much, but I at least feel that we might have our answer as to why.

Sergei Kuznetsov did not take to the ice in his usual place centering the first line for the Canadiens in today’s afternoon game against the Vegas Golden Knights, which the Canadiens lost 6-1. In fact he did not take the ice in today’s game at all. When asked about why newly appointed head coach Mark Leblanc gave a statement so inflammatory that we have taken the unusual step of clearing it with the player before broadcasting it to you at home. Kuznetsov only requested that we provide you with the whole story, that we give context to the inflammatory remarks made by his coach. In respect of that request we begin this story back yesterday afternoon when media observerving the Canadiens practice noted that Kuznetsov was called to the side of the rink, spoke briefly with a member of the training staff, and rushed off the ice. He did not return. 

Yesterday, around noon, Thomas Roy, a 24 year old nurse in the intensive care unit of Montreal General Hospital was biking to work. Two blocks from the hospital he was hit by a drunk driver who ran a red light, swerved to miss another car, and struck Roy. He was rushed by ambulance to Montreal General’s trauma center where his colleagues did everything possible to save his life. Today he is in a medically induced coma, awaiting more surgeries, according to a statement given to us by his family. The hospital also called Roy’s emergency contact and medical proxy, which for Roy, who is estranged from his parents, is his fiancé. Which is where we come back to Sergei Kuznetsov, his absence from the the game this afternoon, and coach Leblanc’s statement about it. 

Now I should warn you, the language used in this clip is offensive and profane. This is the coach speaking. The club management has refused to comment thus far. 

~The screen cut away from the desk and to footage of coach Mark Leblanc speaking in the Canadiens practice facility~

“That little fairy needs to learn to deal with his personal problems on his own time, fagots who let down their teammates when their fuck buddy gets a hangnail don’t have a place in hockey.”

When we reached out to the Canadiens’ front office for comment we received no response. 

Now, here we don’t make a practice of intentionally outing people against their will, it doesn’t matter if they are one of our own interns or the 23 year old star center of an original 6 team. Our team reached out to Kuznetsov’s agent, who was able to contact him. Kuznetsov reached out to us not long after. He took the time, while sitting at the bedside of his comatose fiancé, to speak to us and tell us what has happened in the last couple of days. He also spoke about what he was comfortable with us broadcasting tonight and what the consequences of this broadcast might be for him back home in Russia. His decision to give us the go ahead to tell his story this evening makes him the first player to come out as LGBT publicly while already playing in the National Hockey League. It makes him the first non North American born player to come out period. 

Since Avi Roth played his first game for the Boston Bruins six years ago five former or future NHLers have come out in addition to several other prospects and future draft picks who have yet to play a game in the show. No one already in the league has come out before and no one, to our knowledge, had before been placed in the impossible situation Sergei Kuznetsov was today. 

Our hearts and prayers go out tonight to him and his fiancé and we sincerely wish Thomas Roy a full and swift recovery. 

 

———————-

When her work phone rang Hailie McKinnon checked the caller ID before answering, She had a lot still to prep for tonight’s show and if this story came through it would be huge, she needed to get it right. But Paul had made no promises about his client getting back to them, had been very clear that he had a lot of important business that was taking his focus, that had to come first, and they couldn’t run with this story without taking to him first. So they needed a backup plan which was what she was prepping now. When she saw the name on the caller ID she rushed to pick up the phone. 

“My agent tell me I should call. That coach says things about me and you want to talk about. Was not expecting you to bother.”

“We were hoping to discuss some comments made by Mark Leblanc when he was asked about your absence from the game today.”

“I can not talk long. They do not like phones here and I do not want them angry with me.”

“I understand, may I ask where you are?”

“I am in ICU at Hospital. They have been very kind.” There was a deep breath. “I bet I know what he say about me that you call me. I bet he say that I am goluboi, that I am fagot. Said he would if I miss game.”

“So he used it as a threat to try and make you show up and play?”

“Yes. Do not think he actually want me to play though. You may ask me.”

“Are you gay?”

“Yes. Gay and sick of his fucking bullshit. If you, I want you to tell people what he say and I want you to tell people where I am and why. Thomas and I talk about when we get engaged, if people find out they find out.”

“Are you worried about how Russia will react?”

“Yes, nothing to do about it though. Ask my agent what happen to Thomas. I have to go. Thank you for reaching out.”

She looked at her phone for a second after he hung up. So they were running with this tonight then. And he was in the ICU, presumably at the bedside of his fiancé. It was time to call Paul back and get the rest of the story.

 

#######

With a final warning look the head of media relations stepped away from the microphone and retreated to the corner of the stage for what she vainly hoped would be a short and painless press conference. Everything that could go wrong in the last month had though, so there was no reason to expect that this would be any different. She watched as Sergei Kuznetsov sat forward in his seat and reached to adjust the position of the microphone on the table before looking up through his dark hair at the room full of reporters and cameras. He had dark circles under his eyes and looked like he hadn’t slept in days, maybe weeks. She was struck once again by how young he was, at 23 he was younger than her own son. She couldn’t begin to imagine Andrew going through all of this. She knew he wasn’t handling it all as well as he wanted people to think. He had been putting on a good face, trying to keep his fiancé’s life as stress free during his recovery as possible, but she knew he was about ready to snap, had found him only a couple of hours ago crying over a text message from his older sister. She knew his younger brother was supportive, but he was the only one with a kind word and there was not much he could actually do being only 16. She had a bad feeling the storm was about to break. She watched him drag in a deep breath and begin his carefully prepared speech. 

“Thank you for coming today. I wanted to say that we are very thankful for all of the support we have received from everyone. My teammates, the organization, and the amazing team at Montreal General, even strangers, people I have never really met, have reached out and offered their support. It means so much.” Here he took a deep breath and looked up. “There are some people who have said that I should have handled things differently. That I should not have ‘thrown my coach under the bus’.” She winced as he actually made finger quotes. “Maybe I should have done things differently, but as he says himself, a man must take responsibility for his own actions, no one else should do it for him.” His mouth twisted into a wry grin. “There are people who say to me that I should not have complained about how i was treated because he is my coach. That he has the right, that he is pushing me to be better. I didn’t know how to tell them they were wrong but Jonesie said it well. He said to me ‘They would not dare say that to me if it was him calling me a monkey, why should it be different when he calls you a pedik. It’s not the same, but it isn’t so different.’ So many of my teammates, my friends, have stood up for me the last few weeks; at practice, in the room and in front of the media. It has meant so much to me, to us.” As he spoke his voice took on the thick quality of holding back tears. “I put up with for three weeks him calling all of us faerie, fag, when we do not do as well as he wants. One day, after a week, I snap, say enough, called names enough in Russia, come to Canada and think I am done with homophobic bullshit from teams. Think I am okay now. It is legal here to say something, and i am done putting up with shit. It was worse after that, last two weeks. After that I had no name, just fag, other words.” He took a shuddering breath. “Five days ago at practice Will, one of the trainers and a friend, called me over. When Thomas and I had arraigned for me to be his emergency contact and medical proxy he gave the hospital my number, but also Will’s, in case something happen during practice or a game when I can not look at my phone or hear it ring. He calls me over, tells me that there was accident, that Thomas is hurt and they need me at the hospital, that I could just go and he would deal with coach. Later, while Thomas was in surgery, coach called my phone. He yells a lot, calls me names, tells me that if I don’t play next night he will tell media what a fag I am. Doctors tell me that Thomas might die and he wants me to play hockey? I told him to go fuck himself.” He smiled a little, it was brittle but there. “Thomas is stable enough now that we feel comfortable having me return to practice and games, just home games for a while, but if he continues to get better soon road games as well.”

After a moment of silence she stepped forward briefly. “Now he and interim head coach Hajek will take a few questions.” She stepped back, but stayed ready to jump in and stop things if they went of the rails. Most of the questions were in line if a little prying, but she could tell that some of the ones that towed the edge or crossed over it were pushing Sergei's limits. Finally one pushed him just that bit too far. 

“Tell me, if was your wife who get hit by car, almost die, how worried you be about people who read your stuff, who watch your station on the TV? Bet you don’t think about them, just if person you love will be okay.” It was the reporter’s scoffed ‘Well of course.’ that really seemed to push Sergei over the edge. He spat his answer back at the reporter almost before he had finished speaking. “Why you think I so different? Huh?! Is because Oh, for gays not same, not Real love? He is most important person, nothing more important to me, and you think I should give shit, be more worried about standings than him, be worried about reputation of jackass who want people like me dead or in camps?! You think-“

He finally cut off as coach Hajek drew him into his arms and turned him away from the press where he had stood up from the table as tears of anger flowed down his face. This was the moment she had been worried about. He had been holding together such a professional image and had been under such stress that it was inevitable. Honestly she had been expecting something much more inflammatory than an impassioned defence of the validity of his relationship and his choices. 

She stepped forward to the microphone and politely, but firmly, closed out the press conference. She made sure to note which reporter had crossed the line. When she got back to the room they would debrief in she made sure to tell Sergei that he had handled the whole thing surprisingly well, better than they had counted on. She didn’t keep him to long, letting him escape to work out his nerves and frustrations in the training facilities. When he had left she turned to coach Hajek. “You handled that all very well as well. It was a good thing you did at the end there.”

“I know the difference between tough love and kicking someone when they are down.”

**Author's Note:**

> This Author Loves Comments and Kudos! <3


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